In advance of Sotheby’s Gleneagles outing on August 29, and during the Antiques for Everyone fair in Glasgow, Phillips hosted a sale entirely devoted to Scottish antiques in Edinburgh on August 25, where this George II silver punch bowl was among the first pieces to cause a stir.
Measuring 9in (23cm) diameter and weighing 26oz, the punch bowl was marked to the base for David Mitchell and assay master Dougal Ged, Edinburgh 1739. Most punch bowls of this period are struck to the middle of the base, so doubts were raised over the slightly casual, off-centre grouping of these marks. This, and the slightly later chased and embossed border, accounted for modest expectations of £2000-3000, but a Scottish bidder in the room was not deterred, beating off the competition from the telephones to take the bowl at £14,000 (plus 15/10 per cent premium).
